Suzette Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 Now I know a lot of you, who know a lot more about computers than I do, don't like Microsoft, but maybe you might know the answer anyway... On Outlook (wot I used to have!) I had an option for auto-reply or it might have been called auto-answer, which I used for those hundreds of times I was on holiday to let people know that I couldn't reply to their email cos I was busy enjoying myself elsewhere!! I now have Outlook Express and that function doesn't seem to be available - does anyone know if it is available and maybe called something else?? I have tried using the message rules but all that happened was that EVERYONE in my address book got a message saying I was away, rather than just the people who had mailed me during that period. Can anyone help - without starting a debate on the merits or not of using a pc or a mac and Bill Gates' world domination!!!!!! :D Cheers!
Stu Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 As far as I'm aware the option isn't avaiable in Outlook Express... Shame, but there has to be a reason to upgrade to Outlook :D Stu
Brian Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 Hi Suzette Out-of-Office reply is normally handled by your mail server; like that your office PC doesn't have to be left on while you are on holiday. Outlook Express is not designed for corporate use and so the feature doesn't exist in it. It only exists in Outlook when running in workgroup mode with an Exchange server.
Eric Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 I am not 100% on this but can't you tailor one of the rules, I think it's the "where the from line contains people" part and add only those you want from your address book?
Kevin Robertson Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 I am not 100% on this but can't you tailor one of the rules, I think it's the "where the from line contains people" part and add only those you want from your address book? Eric is 100% correct
Suzette Posted April 1, 2004 Author Posted April 1, 2004 Thanks for the replies, now for more questions.... If I use the message rules of the "contains people" then I have to click on every name in my address book ? That's going to take a long time - there's a lot of names! What I can't work out is why last time I tried it I managed to send a message to everyone in my address book, before they had sent me a message!!!! I had clicked on :Mesage Rules > Mail Then 'select conditions for your rule' I selected "for all messages"In 'select actions for your rule' I selected "reply with message"Then in 'rule description' it says "apply this rule after message arrives, for all messages, reply with message" and the last word message is "html" (?) so I click on that and it takes me to my desktop where I can select a document to reply with. (I have just used a text document which opens with Notepad). Now my computer knowledge says that then if someone emails me, whether they are in my address book or not they should automatically get a reply, which will be a message, possibly as a Notebook attachment. So why did it send a message to everyone BEFORE they had sent me a message ... Have I confused you all now, I've maanged to confuse myself ... hopefully some nice helpful person will be able to come up with an answer
Andrew C Posted April 1, 2004 Posted April 1, 2004 Did you "Run Now" or whatever the equivalent in Express is? This can trawl through your inbox and apply the new rule to old messages.
Eric Posted April 1, 2004 Posted April 1, 2004 With Express You may need to start with a clean inbox before you create the message rule. If you want it to do it all the incomming messages try using the if "if the to line contains people" and uses your own e-mail address. Not to sure how well it will work but it worth a try.
Suzette Posted April 1, 2004 Author Posted April 1, 2004 Inbox is VERY full at the moment (about 800 messages and haven't had time to sort through it recently, and now don't have enough time prior to going to away. I'll try using my email address in the "to line" and see how it works. Thanks for all your help, I'll let you know whether it has worked or not when I come back from hols!!Cheers
peternewman Posted April 1, 2004 Posted April 1, 2004 To reiterate what Andrew C said:Did you "Run Now" or whatever the equivalent in Express is? This can trawl through your inbox and apply the new rule to old messages. When you have setup the rule don't click apply now, just click okay. PN
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